Dec. 26 - We are God's helpers in generosity. "I so wanted my
children to think well of Santa. This whole question of
being fair begs the larger question. What do I say to my children about God?
When some have so much and others have so little, what do I say? Will they stop
believing or simply see how unfair God is?"
Dec. 19 - The one reason to withhold giving"
Rumor has it that in a local congregation people are withholding their
pledges as a vote of no confidence against the pastor. And others have
been withholding their giving to synods because of political reasons. I must
admit that there have been times when I considered giving less because I
didn't like how a particular church spent its money."
Dec. 12 - A Presence Even Greater Than Santa. A sappy Christmas
show gave the Rev. Dana Reardon the idea it might be great if we treated people so
well that they suspected we were really Santa in plain clothes. "But then
I realized that it would actually be a giant step down from
what people are supposed to think when we have been a part of their lives in any way."
Dec. 5 - Retirement and the Kingdom of God . "I don't have to be a
good steward. And I don't have to tithe. I don't have to take care of
my neighbor. So now, what should I do today? I get bored really fast
if I don't do anything."
Nov. 28 - Holiday presents (and presence) that honor Christ"As
Christians we are not called to separate ourselves from this world even when it
gets hard to be Christian in the midst of secular materialistic values. We are
called to be in this world and yet not of this world. I believe that we are
called to continue to celebrate Christmas in a way that honors the birth of new
hope for this world."
Nov. 21 - Thanks for volunteers who serve without strings
"As Christians and
volunteers, we often show up and announce what we are willing to do in a
situation that calls for our help. And if we are asked to volunteer we
have a preconceived idea of what we are willing to do. But the
Lord's work continues to be done, and done more effectively if we are willing to
look for the need and plug ourselves in."
Nov. 7 - The inspired colors of God's Kingdom. "The
Beatitudes are like a coloring book designed by Jesus. He draws us a
picture of what God's Kingdom looks like -- where those who mourn will rejoice
and those who are meek will find a place and the poor will have enough. And
then we get to color this picture and make it come alive with the inspiration of
the Spirit."
Oct. 31 - A full life in God's Technicolor. "The concept of eternal life is not just a linear thing
in that it never ends. It is also a qualitative thing. God gives us
life in living color. There is depth to the pain and the joy. There
is a richness to the textures and the sounds and the smells."
Oct. 24 - God
wants us to care - and share! "If we worry so much about taking care of our own needs we will never
have enough to take care of our neighbor. We should never be so worried
about out own welfare that we don't have enough to take care of our neighbors."
Oct. 17 - Plan
for unplanned relief contributions.. "
Is there no end to the things to which I am asked to respond? Is
there no end to the needs of this world? If I don't budget for things they do seem much more relentless
and never-ending."
Oct. 10 - Signs
of faith in red ink. "I see a deficit budget as a sign of faith. It means that the church
is stretching itself to do what it feels called by God to do and it
knows that God will be with them and help them to grow in numbers
and grow in their generosity in response to all that God has given
them."
Oct. 3 - Who benefits most when we give generously? "I
believe Jesus is calling my congregation - and all of us - to tithe and
more. I believe Jesus is calling us them lives of incredible generosity.
And Jesus is calling them to it for the same reason I am: For their sake. There is incredible joy
in a life of generosity."
Sept. 26 - The antidote for 'compassion fatigue'. "Sometimes we see problems that are too big for our
resources, and we know we cannot manage. But for those of us who are Christian there is always another way to look
at it. Our call is not to fix everything. Our call is not to make things
right. Our call is to care and to share and to be the hands of Christ in the
world. "
Sept. 19 - A little
child shall lead them. "The young girl was there to ask if she could organize fund-raisers for
Katrina victims. She wanted to have a bake sale and a car wash and she was full
of excitement and ideas."
Sept. 12 - The
collection for the saints of New Orleans."Whatever our political persuasion, we are all doing whatever we can
to help. I can argue all I want about what the government should be
doing, but if I have money in the bank that my brother or sister in
need can be cared for with, then it rightly belongs to them."
Sept. 5 - Love for God and neighbor are interconnected. "Last Sunday before church someone asked me to add something to the
prayers of the people. She asked me to pray for the people of New
Orleans and all of the areas affected by the coming hurricane. I
really appreciated the reminder. I was not aware that Katrina had
been upgraded and was looking so dangerous."
Aug. 29 - Raising our children as good stewards. "If children grow up knowing that they are loved so unconditionally by God that He
would die for them and that this love extends to all people, then we might give
them some of the skills for how to respond to that love. But we need to fear
competition from others who may teach the skills better. Our young people will
learn from us best by how we live out that love."
Aug. 22 - Holy Spirit drives a
program forward "Homeless people and those receiving welfare can get all the job training and all the help with dealing
with issues of addiction -- or whatever contributed to their situation -- but getting
and keeping a job in our society without a car is becoming harder and harder.
Bus routes dwindle because most of us have access to transportation."
Aug. 15 - Not pushed, but
empowered by love. "But at its heart, stewardship does not flow out of oughts or shoulds,
or even the best of advice. It flows out of the outpoured love of
God. It flows in grateful response to the incredible gifts that we
have given."
Aug. 1 - Do no harm, but do make an impact. As Christians, we may not talk about zero impact as we strive to be good
stewards. That is okay, because in another sense we strive for maximum
impact. We want to do as much with what God has given us for the good of God's
people.
July 18 - Generous to the end of our days. "There is a generosity of spirit that I think that we have lost in our
culture. We have endless debates about end-of-life issues. It seldom
seems gracious, though."
July
11 - Extending a real welcome to all. "It
goes to welcoming the strangers to our land. It goes to paying people
enough to live on so that they can feel a welcome part of our society. It
goes to the way we drive and the way we are with every encounter of our day."
July
4 - What do we see for our stewardship? "Look
any Sunday and see what I see. See the faces of the children in Sunday
School and the upturned face of an old man who can no longer kneel when I
say, "The body of Christ given for you."
June
27 - Welcome to 'Sinners Anonymous'. "I
have long told people who feel no need to go to church that it is precisely
when we are strong that we need to go to church for the sake of someone
there who needs us to be there. Maybe just a smile or a presence, or a
strong, sure voice reciting the creed. Or maybe it is to support the pastor
and laugh at her pitiful jokes and help her by our presence to be strong for
others."
June
20 - Opening our hearts and pocketbooks. "We always expect pastors to make sacrifices and to be willing to live frugally
for the sake of the Gospel. I am sure the pastor of my Grandfather's church
did. But everyone sacrificed to make sure the church was still there."
June 13 - Youth
use the 'T' word without apology.
"If we who love
the Lord and want to further the work of the kingdom do not take giving of
our money seriously then who will? I think we should extend that past
pastors to everyone who works on stewardship and everyone who serves on
councils and everyone who is serious about giving thanks for what God has
given."
June
6 - It's
never too late for gratitude.
"When I was ordained (at 45) I sat down and wrote to everyone who helped to
get me to that point. I am sure that I didn't remember everyone. I didn't
think that I should move forward without looking back to what and who got me
there."
May
30 - When churches face a deficit.
I have seen
congregations rely on one person to get them out of trouble year after year
without digging deeper themselves. So I am proposing to my congregation
that they all give a little more. If members don't have a big lump sum lying around, they can just put a little extra in
each week."
May
23 - Our
risky, right choices. When four young women from out-of-state show up at her church, our columnist
learns a powerful message about how hard it is to live the words of Jesus in
Matthew 25, "We make choices knowing that there is right and wrong in all of
it in life and we just pray that God can make the best even of our bad
choices."
May
16 - Forgive us our money mistakes. "
We
have all made foolish mistakes with money in our personal lives, and even
congregations can make mistakes. I sometimes think it is the foolish
mistakes we have made personally and how guilty we have felt about them that
colors even the decisions we make for our churches. We cannot let our
mistakes paralyze us."
May
9 - God
bless the volunteers. "Those of
us who are running around busily trying to do more things than we really
should anyway can get really resentful of giving some of our precious time
to those who seem to have too much of it."
May
2 - Time
after time, our most precious gift. "Those of
us who are running around busily trying to do more things than we really
should anyway can get really resentful of giving some of our precious time
to those who seem to have too much of it."
April
25 - Evangelism? We have so much to give! "Some people have that problem with things other than food.
They shop just to shop. They watch shopping shows or even just commercials
so that they can find things to want. Things they know they don't need and
wonder what to do with when they get them home."
April 18 - Giving is an indicator of conviction."Some
people have that problem with things other than food. They shop just
to shop. They watch shopping shows or even just commercials so that they can find things to want. Things they know
they don't need and wonder what to do with when they get them home."
April
11 - When
God satisfies, I shall not want. "Some people have that problem with things other than food. They shop just
to shop. They watch shopping shows or even just commercials so that they
can find things to want. Things they know they don't need and wonder what
to do with when they get them home."
April
4 - Traveling light, following Jesus. "We are called to lives of following Jesus. That means that we have
offered "ourselves, our time and our possessions." Periodically we need to
review what we have and what we need and jettison a whole lot of what weighs
us down and preoccupies us and look again at what we really need for this
journey of faith. "
March
28 - God pushes us beyond our own paltry goals. "God often pushes us in a direction that is different than where we would
go. It is not merely because of some task God wants us to accomplish or some
gift God wants us to give, but because in the doing we become. God is
working on all of us."
March
21 - A day off? That's just good stewardship. "We get so busy that we think that the world cannot revolve without us.
We who consider ourselves good stewards of God's creation sometimes thing we
are indispensable. When we start thinking that way then the whole
stewardship thing falls apart.
March 14 - Blessings above and beyond 10 percent. This week, columnist
Dana Reardon praises a man who gives 30 percent of his income to God. "Most
of us are always a couple of thousand away from thinking we have enough for
ourselves -- much less enough to be that generous. How did he discover
that he had enough for himself and more?"
March 7 - Tithing provides a flow for generosity. "Tithing
is not a miracle cure. We do not suddenly have whole hearts like God's when
we learn to tithe. But when God performs this shunt and allows a free flow
from our heart then our whole being pinks up and the possibilities for new
life and growth abound."
Feb.
28 - With
tithing, you reap more than you sow. "We
have a relationship with the most generous being in the universe. We can
chose to receive from God's generosity or we can choose to become more like
the one from whom we receive everything. Tithing is only a start on that
journey."
Feb. 21 - In
the faces of the hungry, the face of Christ. "We
do what we do even if the job is not doable. We do it because we are the
hands of Christ. We do it because we are not working alone, but with the
power of God who desires that all of his children have a share in the
abundance that God gives us."
Feb. 14 - Consume locally, think globally. "As
Christians we know that we are not alone in this world and that what we have
been given is not only for our use but rather for the whole people of God.
As we grow in awareness of how our choices impact others, we will begin to
make wiser choices."
Feb. 7 - Acts
of generosity, tests of faith. "It
occurs to me that what we are doing in all parts of the ministry is faith
formation. Some days we are the face of Christ for people who have no
reason other than faith to hope that any help will come. When we at this
little way station on the way to the cross offer heat or food, we offer
more. We offer hope and a renewal of faith."
Jan.
31 - No
snow-makeup days for stewardship. "Pastors
and treasurers worry about bad-weather Sundays that keep people away from
church. Unlike schools, churches don't get to make up snow days, and any
lost income is lost indeed. Some have suggested that this is because we have
a mentality in church that our offering is like paying for a performance,
and if the performance didn't happen, then we don't have to pay."
Jan. 17 - Running on empty -- and a
prayer! "God
likes it when we are running on empty because we are constantly in touch
with God, praying that we will make it to the gas station. And I am still
sure that there is some truth to it. When we become too comfortable we
can forget we need God."
Jan. 10 - Service the best way to
say 'thanks'. "It occurs
to me that Lutherans may be a pretty staid bunch, but we say thank you Jesus
every day. The largest non-governmental social service agency in the United
States is LSS, Lutheran Social Services. We say thank you Jesus by the
way we live our lives and by the way we care for others."
Jan. 3 -Tsunami brings God's
family together. "When the need
gets very great sometimes we need to reach a little deeper into our
pockets and maybe rethink how much we can afford. I know that
if my family were involved I would send every penny. So how
much do I send because it is someone's family? How much do we
send because we are the family of God?" |
